Video: No Age Score Short film "Aanteni"

No Age score this short by Rodarte and Todd Cole.

The film looks great and No Age's ambient maelstrom works very well with the imagery.

Check it HERE!

Serena-Maneesh "S-M 2: Abyss in B Minor"

SM are from Norway and, if the internet can be believed, SM recorded their new record in a cave (see: SM are from Norway). To me, the sounds on S-M 2... are neither here nor there. At times the songs can be chaotic and disorienting. Melodies reveal themselves as distinguishable, only to disappear almost as quickly as they arrived. During other moments there appear to be distinct melodies, except that those melodies have been twisted through a maze of wires so many times that they become something new altogether...as so goes shoegaze. There. I said it. Check out fist single "I Just Want to see Your Face" which is one of my favorite cuts of 2010.

The album was recorded in a cave.

S-M 2: Abyss in B Minor is out now via 4AD.

Besnard Lakes "The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night"

The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night is the third full length from this Canadian group led by husband/wife duo Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas (Jace takes production credits). BL's last record, The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse, was my #12 favorite album of 2007 and so far this one is looking like it could make my top 20 this year. BL stick with elements that work for them well: layered, crunchy guitar tracking, slow builds + release and lots of vocal harmonizing.

Take a listen to first single "Albatross" here and take it easy on the tremolo bar.

The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night is out now via Jagjaguwar.

Go to your favorite independent record store to snag a copy!

The Morning Benders: “Big Echo”

(Originally written for and posted to Thunder on 02/27/10)

Ok, so it's hard to listen to or talk about these guys without mentioning a certain Brooklyn band's name in comparison (insert educated guess here). "Big Echo" is the second full length record from San Francisco dudes The Morning Benders...produced by Chris Chu and Chris Taylor...and now let's not mention Grizzly Bear again. These guys have crafted quite a refreshing and intelligent pop record, paying attention to harmony and mixing big overdriven guitar reverb low into the mix to reinforce song color without dominating it. First single "Excuses" is one of the better songs I've heard in 2010. The thing that excites me the most about this band is not so much the excellent record they have just recorded, but the potential for them to continue to find their own unique sound on subsequent releases.

"Big Echo" is out March 9 on Rough Trade US.

Check out first single "Excuses" (LP version and excellent live video) along with other tracks here.

Visit your favorite record store to pick it up.

Robert Pollard: "We All Got Out of the Army"

(Originally written for and posted to Thunder on 02/12/10)

It's easy to dismiss Robert Pollard's post-Guided By Voices work- it's exhausting. I mean, the dude apparently released 10 records in just the past year as the Boston Spaceships, Circus Devils and Robert Pollard (I cannot confirm nor deny this number because he probably released more). I myself become discouraged to explore his work at times because of the vast quantity of full length albums he releases in a year, at times failing badly.
With this being said, "We All Got of the Army" is worth your time if you are a Pollard fan even in the least. There’s nothing revolutionary here- just solid Pollard songcraft which can be rewarding just in itself.
So, I've done the work for you- go ahead and check out Bob's latest.

Robert Pollard: "We All Got of the Army" out 2/16/10 on Gbv Inc.

Clipd Beaks: "To Realize"

(Originally written for and posted to Thunder on 01/30/10)

These guys are rad. Totally taking a page out of Liars' soundbook, Clipd Beaks (Oakland, CA) are an experimental guitar band who combine elements of drone, krautrock-esque percussion, vocal manipulation and an all out sense of apocalyptical urgency both lyrically and sonically. Sometimes this idea can be a difficult listen- I don’t find that to be the case with “To Realize”…the band does a pretty good job tying up the lose ends and organizing confusion into something pretty tight.

"To Realize" is out now on Lovepump. CHECK IT.

Badly Drawn Boy: "Is There Nothing We Could Do?"

(Originally written for and posted to Thunder on 01/05/10)

Well, this came as a bit of a surprise for me. I had all but forgotten about Badly Drawn Boy until I saw that he just released a record meant to be the soundtrack for a new British movie, "The Fattest Man in Britain" (indeed the film is about a rather large British bloke). I can't vouch for the movie, but the record is very pleasant. Rare for a soundtrack, the individual songs on this release form a work best listened to as a complete album- a few melodies and sections are repeated in different songs later into the record.

Check out the album here.

Jeff The Brotherhood: "Heavy Days"

(Originally written for and posted to Thunder on 11/05/09)

Comprised of brothers Jamin (drums) and Jake Orrall (guitar/vocals) from Nashville, Jeff the Brotherhood have released their album Heavy Days on Infinity Cat Records, which they run. THIS. RECORD. IS. A. BANGER. Clocking in at just over 27 minutes long, Heavy Days packs such a powerful punch that if the record were any longer it would be tiring.

These dudes are 10 parts weird and 10 parts rad, which if my calculations are accurate, makes them 200% awesome.

Although I have yet to see these guys live, they have a show coming up at Brooklyn Bowl with Shonen Knife on 11/17 and a supporting gig on 12/6 with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at Bowery. Expect chaos.

Systems Officer: "Underslept"

(Originally written for and posted to Thunder on 10/31/09)

Systems Officer is the solo project of Armistead Burwell Smith IV who was a founding member of the post rock band Three Mile Pilot and continues to work as a founding member of Pinback. Underslept is the band’s first proper LP, following a self-titled EP that came out in 2004 and shares many similar sonic qualities with Pinback’s earlier records.



Underslept is out November 3, 2009 via Temporary Residence.

Glenn Branca

(Originally written for and posted to Thunder on 10/27/09)

Glenn Branca is a post-minimalist guitar composer who spawned from New York’s downtown No Wave music scene of the late 1970’s. Branca’s first bands, Theoretical Girls and The Static, played skewed, brash and abrasive punk structured songs. Moving on to what he would focus his writing on up to current day, Branca began to write music for small electric guitar ensembles (that of which Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth were members) and would expand his efforts to include pieces for guitar symphonies consisting of orchestras of 100 or more guitarists (!).

The Sound

Favoring texture over melody, Branca’s works utilize alternate guitar tunings, chord repetition and extreme volume to create dissonance along with a steady drumbeat to produce tense, minimalist rock songs. Branca thought of each guitar in a piece as having it’s own role in the overall tone of the work. In his early guitar ensemble work, guitars were divided into soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass and later in his electric guitar symphony constructs the same was true- but instead of one guitar playing a part, an army of guitars would.
Glenn Branca is currently working on The Ascension: The Sequel that will be a continuation of his first full length LP, The Ascension (99 Records, 1981) from which he has previewed sections of at three NYC shows this year.